Verizon's AppFlash App Launcher Will Access Your Private Data And Share It With Others: EFF

Once the United States Congress removed Obama-era restrictions on internet service providers using customers’ data, it was only a matter of time before some company exploited the opportunity to do that. Verizon, the largest U.S. carrier, is taking the first jab at your privacy with its AppFlash app launcher, which will be built into its smartphones, according to the largest privacy advocate in the U.S., the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

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“Within days of Congress repealing online privacy protections, Verizon has announced new plans to install software on customers’ devices to track what apps customers have downloaded. With this spyware, Verizon will be able to sell ads to you across the Internet based on things like which bank you use and whether you’ve downloaded a fertility app,” technologists William Budington and Jeremy Gillula and policy analyst Kate Tummarello stated in a post they published jointly Thursday on EFF’s website.

The organization claims that AppFlash, which doubles as an app launcher and web search utility, will be rolling out to Verizon subscribers’ Android devices "in the coming weeks."

Here's what the AppFlash privacy policy says: the app would be able to “collect information about your device and your use of the AppFlash services. This information includes your mobile number, device identifiers, device type and operating system, and information about the AppFlash features and services you use and your interactions with them. We also access information about the list of apps you have on your device.”

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The policy further states that Verizon will be able to collect your device’s location data and, more importantly, the contact information stored on your device.

And here is the clincher: the policy states that the information collected will be used for “more relevant advertising”. It further adds: “AppFlash information may be shared within the Verizon family of companies, including companies like AOL who may use it to help provide more relevant advertising within the AppFlash experiences and in other places, including non-Verizon sites, services and devices.”

Cut through the verbiage and here's what it means: Verizon will be selling your private data to third-party advertisers pretty soon.